woo, hope thats all over with..
I have a hard time getting my bees to draw on plastic. I have tried spraying the frames with sugar water, relocating them etc... If I take out a frame with plastic foundation and drop in a foundationless frame they often have it started and well underway by next inspection..
To be honest, I like foundation because its easier to deal with, but my bees dont seem to like it as MUCH as making their own, and yes, it can be a pain to deal with at times. The truth is, it doesnt matter if you start with ritecell, or foundationless.. if you use rite cell, and eventually try foundationless, the learning process is much the same. you still have to learn how to straighten crooked comb no matter when you decide to drop an empty frame in. However, i will agree, that it may be easier not to have to deal with that the first year or two while you figure everything else out.
Personally.. I WISH I had started that way, and started with all mediums, some of you may be perfectly happy with how you started out and continue.. I wasnt.
I like the money savings of making my own foundationless frames. I like being able to pull honey from a super and drop it into the brood box, I like the weight difference, etc etc... That doesnt mean anyone else has to like it, or do it.
I like natural beekeeping, but I still use hopguard. I am not an advocate that professes any SINGLE method.. I still have some plastic foundation (4.9 mm ) in all my hives. I use it to help guide the foundationless frames, so I am not a purist there either.
The one thing I DO believe, is that if we keep treating, we will never have better bees.... but sometimes you KNOW, if you dont help them you will lose them.
It is hard to judge TONE when reading... I tend to say things I find humerus, only to find out my wife has no sense of humor. Living with her helps me a lot when TYPING....
I originally melted my wax, and painted the melted wax onto my foundationless frames.. a local beek told me to STOP wasting wax. Take the block of beeswax, and RUB it on the frame. He told me if I wanted my bees to attach the comb on all sides, to RUB it onto all four sides, not just the top... In most cases it seems to work, I still have a few frames that are only partially attached, but rotating them inward seems to help... something about the frame being "primary" in the hive as it was explained to me.....
The methods of each beekeeper are as many and varied as the stars in the night sky. PLEASE post your methods, and your advice, and let everyone else do the same!!
I will reiterate that I WISH, I had started with foundationless. I would have saved several hundred dollars, and I would have learned how to deal with the problems much sooner.
I am no woodworker, but I have found building hives, and frames to be well within my capability. It gives me MORE to do with my bees, fills me with satisfaction when my bees accept my work, and it saves me money...
It is hard to disagree with success. If what you are doing WORKS for you, then THAT is what you post about, and how "I" learn different methods or new ways of managing my bees. I dont intend to make anyone angry. EVER!! But I post about what is working for me, what I LIKE, and what I wish I had done to start out with, HOPING to save someone else the trouble.